Inseparable
by Alkito
Summary: Please, don't leave. I can't do this without you. Heavily inspired by 'Partners', an AU where Kirito just won't let Asuna go. Begins after the 1st floor boss battle, with canon game mechanics. Only Aincrad, KiritoXAsuna
1. Chapter 1: Roots

**A/N: I actually don't like resorting to using author's notes, but I feel it's necessary here to give a rundown of what this is. Essentially, this is a fanfiction like 'Partners', but it will only cover the Aincrad arc. It will also approach the relationship between Kirito and Asuna a lot differently, and they will definitely admit their feelings for each other, likely around the mid-point of the story, perhaps a bit earlier.**

 **The canon game mechanics (full pain absorption, no blood, where canon items are dropped) are still in place however I may add onto these with my own additions as I see fit to go more 'in depth'. Kirito and Asuna are powerful but they won't be solo'ing bosses, at least not for a while. I will likely also add more skills and items.**

 **Oh, and the most important reason I wrote this is because I want to see a long, in-depth fanfiction focusing just on Kirito and Asuna throughout the entirety of Aincrad where they actually have a loving relationship, but also with a ton of action as well. Partners is the closest thing there is to that right now, it's about 80% of what my ideal FF would be…so I'll try to make this 100%** **?** **. It's my chance to fully flesh out all the game mechanics I want to as well as dive into their relationship in a different way.**

 **I hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

 _"_ _Will you disband your party?"_

The dialogue box hovered in front of Kirito, and his finger hovered over the confirm button. Moments before, he and Asuna had defeated the first floor boss, _Illfang the Kobold Lord_ , something only made possible through their perfectly synchronised teamwork. Yet now…? He was going to throw that all away?

As he moved his finger down to press the confirm button, a voice cut through the air behind him.

"Do you think you could have beaten that boss all on your own?"

It was Asuna's.

Climbing the stairs until she was just a couple feet away from Kirito, she looked dead into his eyes, her own questioning and probing his for a response. "Maybe I could have. There's no point guessing about what could've been", came the response. Though he had tried to make his response emotionless, she could tell that his voice didn't carry sincerity. Some emotion had slipped through, and Asuna was going to capitalise on it.

"All it will take is for that HP gauge of yours to hit 0, and then you will be guessing about what could've been." She glanced at his level. He was level 12, she was level 10; while there was a clear gap between them, it wasn't huge. "Besides, we aren't worlds apart in skill. Even if you don't want to be in a guild, don't you think two strong players have a much better chance than one?"

Part of him simply wanted to turn away, to teleport to the second floor and leave her behind, and to spare her from all the abuse she would receive due to being associated with a "beater". But he couldn't, because he knew that she was right. "You realise…you realise what it will be like with someone who is going to be as hated as me, don't you?", warned Kirito half-heartedly.

A shout tore through the room before Asuna could respond. "Don't go with that filthy beater!", cried out one of the players from the boss raid, "Come with us instead!".

Asuna glanced over her shoulder with a deathly glare in her eyes. "Don't you realise that this "beater" saved your asses?", came the cold reply, instantly putting an end to the shouting. Kirito's face took on a slightly shocked look at her straight-forwardness, but he quickly hid it behind a façade once more. "Yes, I realise what it will be like. I don't care anyway. I think I'd prefer being with only one person, anyway."

Kirito nodded, thinking the same. With a quick swipe of his finger, he dismissed the dialogue box, keeping the party active. A quick glance behind him and he proceeded through to the second floor, his _Coat of Midnight_ swaying behind him and Asuna on his trail.

* * *

 **Floor 2: Urbus**

As Kirito and Asuna stepped into Urbus, the main settlement of the second floor, they both had vastly different things on their minds. While Asuna was still reeling from the thoughts of what she had just decided to do, Kirito was dead-set on what he had to do immediately from his experience in the beta.

"Asuna? Asuna!" he snapped, grabbing her attention from her daydreaming. "There are some things we need to do immediately. How many health potions do you have left?", he quickly asked. A quick check of her inventory yielded the answer. "I only have two", came the reply, "and they're both the lowest level".

"That's no good," Kirito responded, glancing at her HP bar, "especially as you have 2500 HP and I have 3000. One of those health potions will only restore 500 HP at most, and that's over a minute. Luckily floor two is where crystals become available, and the healing types will instantly restore our HP to its maximum."

"That sounds amazing! Why do potions even exist, then?" Asuna quickly asked.

"Well, there's a few problems. While potions always work, sometimes you can enter a _Crystal-Nullification Area_ , though those are rare and usually only on the higher floors. As well as that, Crystals are really expensive. How much Cor do you have?"

"Hmm, let me see…right now I have around 4000. What about you?"

"5000 here. A healing crystal will cost us around 8000 Cor, so we'd only be able to buy one between us right now, which is no good. A _Lesser Healing Potion_ from the NPC Shops on this floor, however, will restore 1000 HP over a minute and only cost 100 Cor."

"Damn. We better start saving up."

"Yeah. Luckily, I know some monsters we can grind tomorrow morning to get some XP and Cor. Speaking of tomorrow, what's the time?" Kirito wondered, pulling up his player menu. Seeing that the time was 9:41pm, he gulped. "We need to move quickly, the Inns will close for renting at 10pm. Unless you want to sleep outside in the cold, that is," and with that, he bolted in the direction of the nearest Inn.

"I don't think so!", she shouted, bolting after him.

* * *

 **Floor 2: Urbus** , Leather Inn

The NPC Innkeeper flashed a smile at Kirito and Asuna as they ran into the "Leather Inn", panting. "How much will it be for a room for two for the night?", Kirito asked, not noticing the look of surprise on Asuna's face that they wouldn't be in separate rooms.

"Psst! If you're going to do that, you better not have us be in the same bed!", Asuna hissed at Kirito.

Before Kirito could respond, the Innkeeper piped up: "The prices can be seen on the desk in front of me. We also offer separate beds for couples going through troubled times."

Both Kirito and Asuna blushed at the thought of that, and Kirito quickly decided to pay the rent for the rooms for a week just to make the NPC stop talking. "How much did you pay?", Asuna questioned.

"Just 50 Cor for a week. The prices are pretty good on the lower floors, but the rooms are nowhere near as nice as higher up in Aincrad. Plus you can't actually buy your own house until the 10th Floor."

"You can buy your own house?!", exclaimed Asuna. Maybe she finally had a reason to grind out all these monsters! Other than, you know, being able to escape this death game she had been trapped in…

"You can, but it's really expensive. A small house on the 10th Floor alone costs 300,000 Cor. I don't want to think about what it might cost on the really high up floors – although those houses must be really nice!"

At that moment, the Innkeeper held out the keys to their new room, which Kirito took, promptly using to unlock the door to their new room. Their first impressions were that the room was clearly cheap, but altogether not too bad. It would definitely work for a cheap place to live in.

"Before we go to bed," Asuna asked, cutting through the silence, "you were taking about crystals earlier. There are other types of crystal, right?" And so Kirito went into a lecture about the different types of crystal and their relative prices. There was the antidote crystal, costing 6000 Cor, commonly neglected but extremely important in higher floors or special dungeons, where paralysis or poison could lead to your death. There was the healing crystal, which he had mentioned already.

"And then there's the teleport crystal." Kirito stated blankly, drawing an inquisitive look from Asuna.

"Is there something special about it?"

"I want you to make sure you always have one on you at all times. It's expensive – 10000 Cor – " the price of it made her draw a breath in – "but it will save your life. I always try to keep my HP out of the red zone when I'm alone. Once we have enough Cor to buy ourselves teleport crystals, I want you to teleport away whenever your HP hits the red zone, no matter what."

"What if I'm leaving you behind? I'm not just going to do that!" Asuna was conflicted. Why was she concerned about an absolute stranger? She hadn't known him for very long, but in that short boss battle, it seems like they had already formed a bond…

In Sword Art Online, every _Sword Skill_ comes with a delay after it has been used. So in a fast-paced boss battle like the previous one, where a direct hit can seriously lower your odds of survival, those parries they performed for each other…was it equal to saving each other's lives, over and over? Could she just leave him to die after he had done that for her, and she had done that for him?

"Asuna." His voice pierced her thoughts. "There's not going to be any discussion about this. Promise me you will."

"…Okay. I promise."

As her eyes closed to go to sleep, she wondered how truthful that promise really was.


	2. Chapter 2: The Grind Begins

**A/N: I've decided that Appraisal will only be required for extremely detailed information about items, and so that is why Kirito and Asuna can see information about their weapons through their own menus.**

* * *

 **Floor 2: Savanna**

 _Slash!_

The _Trembling Ox_ standing before Asuna stumbled for a bit, and she could see that its HP was in the deep red. A simple _Linear_ attack later and the monster had exploded into a million shining polygons.

 _Result_

 _Exp 240_

 _Cor 300_

 _Items 3_

The battle result screen popped up in front of her, but she was more interested in the other box that had popped up alongside it:

 _Level Up!_

 _You are now Level 12!_

"Hey Kirito!", Asuna shouted. "I'm level 12 now, how about you?"

"Just hit level 14", came the response.

 _Damn, how is he still two levels above me? I've been killing these guys as fast as I can…_

"You know, these guys are supposed to be tough little mini-bosses to kill, but we've been killing them in about 30 seconds. Do you think we should move on to the next area and try something harder, or should we just go to the dungeon?"

"We don't even know where the dungeon is-" but her thoughts were quickly interrupted by Kirito. "Wait, I have 18000 Cor now. How about you?", he quizzed. "I've got around 13000. Why?"

"We need to head back to Urbus and get some crystals."

"Why can't we do that later?"

"We're doing that now, Asuna, no questions about it," he curtly replied, beginning a jog back in the direction of the second floor's starting settlement.

"Oh, for God's sake!", she cried, jogging after him.

* * *

 **Floor 2: Urbus**

For an ordinary player, it could take them hours to find an NPC on the second floor which sold Crystals, considering only one out of hundreds did. But Kirito was a beta tester, and so it took him only three minutes.

"Memorise this location, Asuna, you might need it if I'm not around."

"Why wouldn't you be around?", she asked, trying to put on an innocent tone, although she knew what he was hinting at. No response came.

Kirito quickly bought a Teleport Crystal and a Healing Crystal, rinsing him dry of his Cor, and told Asuna to hold her hands open. "Wait, why?", she said, before he quickly dropped the crystals into her hands, a dialogue box popping up to confirm she had received them.

"Why would you do that, you idiot?!", she hissed at him. "I can buy my own crystals…how are you going to get out of trouble now?"

…

He looked up at her matter-of-factly, and she could see his eyes were dead serious.

"You don't have enough Cor to buy both crystals. I will be fine. You need to make sure you don't die."

She drew her breath in sharply at that. _Die? What about you?_

But she could see in his eyes he wouldn't accept any arguments about this. "Besides," he continued, "you need to upgrade that sword. You'll need to buy a new one and enhance it once or twice."

She knew he was right about that. Her sword was currently a _Starting Rapier +2_ , and she was quickly reaching the limits of what that could do. Kirito dragged her to a weapons seller in Urbus, where she quickly bought an _Alloyed Rapier_ for 5000 Cor, before upgrading it to an _Alloyed Rapier +1_ for another 3000.

* * *

 _"In Sword Art Online", Kirito explained, as she remembered from this morning, "every weapon has a range and a type. For instance, my one-handed sword," gesturing at the one he held in his hand, "has a range of Short, which is just slightly bigger than Tiny, what you might get from a dagger."_

 _"Your rapier, on the other hand, has a range of Medium, meaning you can hit enemies from further away."_

 _"Moving on, my sword has a type of Slash, while your rapier has a type of Stab. The differences aren't really noticeable in this game in terms of stats, but they do mean we use different Sword Skills."_

 _"But Kirito," she interrupted, "how are you going to teach me then? Surely you won't know any of my skills?"_

 _"I did use a rapier for a while in the beta, so I know its skills – I just preferred a sword. Using a sword generally does a little bit more damage, while a rapier is a little bit faster. I preferred the damage."_

 _"As well as a weapons range and type, it has a few stats and a Strength requirement. The first stat is Attack, which simply amplifies the damage you do. The maximum damage you can deal in one blow – that's a full slice from a sword skill through the body or head – is ten times your Attack, for instance. So your Starting Rapier +2 there, with an Attack of 20, can do up to 200 damage in one hit."_

 _"Considering I have 3000 HP, you can see why you couldn't really fight any high-levelled monsters or players with that sword.", and she nodded at this. She'd need to upgrade to a better weapon pretty soon._

 _"Another is Durability. You lose one durability point from each attack, but as long as we repair our weapons before it hits zero, we should be fine." She nodded at this again._

 _Continuing on, he explained to her the meaning of Strength requirements, and why even a rapier user like her would need to put points into STR to allow her to equip high-level weapons. He talked about agility and strength boosts from weapons, as well as weight and armor bonuses._

 _"I think that's everything…anyway, should we get on with killing these bastards?"_

 _She smirked. "Thought you'd never ask."_

* * *

"So what attack does that rapier of yours have now?"

"40, I think. A lot better than the last one I had."

Kirito looked at the _Anneal Blade +6_ in his inventory, and saw that its attack currently stood at 70. "We'll need to get some more reinforcements on your rapier to catch you up to my attack, then, but for now, I think that's good."

"Actually…" he paused, remembering something from the beta. "No, we won't reinforce that rapier of yours anymore."

She paused as well, half in shock and half in annoyance. "Why not? Is whether I survive not important?"

That wasn't what he meant at all, but it still felt like a punch in the gut, even if it was from someone he hadn't known for that long. Originally he intended to just focus on his own survival, but still…

He looked down at his feet. "N-No," he stuttered, and she instantly felt regret at her sharp jab at him. "In the 1st Floor Labyrinth, the Kobolds leading up to the boss room have a special drop with a 1% chance. It's a rapier called the _Wind Fleuret_. It has a base attack of 50 as well as quite a good speed stat..." He explained, making her realise that what he said was simply an attempt to help her… "I thought it would be good if we went there tomorrow to get it for you."

"Okay." She replied, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. But whether or not you survive is important. I won't let any party members die on my watch, especially not you."

…

"I think we should go home now, what about you?"

"Yeah, I think that sounds about right."

* * *

 **Floor 2: Urbus** , Leather Inn, Kirito & Asuna's Room

Closing the door behind them, Kirito realised that his hunger stat was getting extremely low. While hunger in SAO could not damage or kill the player, it would result in a form of fatigue similar to sleepiness. This fatigue would affect the execution of _Sword Skills_ and the speed of the player, as well as the efficiency of their blocks, and so it was important to eat regularly. Kirito had also noted that attempts to "save food" by not eating before going to sleep weren't very efficient – although tried by some of the hardcore players in SAO – because hunger would affect the amount of sleep a player could get, and so the same outcome would occur.

"Hey Asuna," Kirito mused.

"Yes Kirito?" Asuna promptly replied.

"When was the last time you ate? How is your hunger stat doing?"

"Probably about ten hours ago…yeah, it's quite low. It's a shame you can't cook in this game, all of the bread we've bought tastes like crap."

"Actually, Asuna…"

She looked up at Kirito, eyes widening as she realised what he was about to say.

"…you can."

…

"WHAT!?"

* * *

 _An hour later_

"Well it's pretty basic considering my Cooking skill is only level 5, but I think it's better than having the bread alone…" Asuna said, as she placed down two bowls of soup on the table in their room. She had to quickly dash out before that to buy some basic ingredients, but it only cost her 5 Cor to do so, along with 5 Cor for the bread itself.

Taking a sip, Kirito blurted out, "Damn! It's nothing like the real life version but it's miles better than the crappy bread we were having to eat…", and Asuna wasn't sure whether to be complimented by the fact it was better than the bread or take offence to the fact it was worse than real life, so she settled for a quick "Thank you" as her cheeks turned lightly red.

"Let's eat, then!"

* * *

 **Floor 1: Labyrinth** , Top Floor

 _The next day_

As a _Horizontal Arc_ dispatched another _Kobold Prince_ , Kirito wondered whether or not the rapier they were looking for even still existed.

"Hey Asuna, how many have we killed now? Two hundred?"

"Yeah, I'm starting to think it won't drop. It's doing wonders for my level though, I just hit level 14. I'm guessing you're level 16?"

"Yep. Wait, hang on a second…"

 _Congratulations!_

 _You received a rare drop!_

 _Wind Fleuret_

"Well, look what we have here…", and, summoning the _Wind Fleuret_ in his hand, he tossed it to Asuna, its green guard shimmering in the air. She quickly dismissed the dialogue box confirming the transfer in order to look at its stats.

"Damn, it's just like you said. 50 Attack, and it's light too, so the speed is going to be amazing."

"Hey, we're not done yet. How much Cor do you have?"

"15,000 now, why?"

"I think a boost to a +4 will help you out a lot, though it will use up almost all of your Cor. I'd put three enhancements into damage and one enhancement into speed when we get back to town." Opening a menu, he saw the time was 7:31pm – "and we should probably go quickly, considering it's getting late."

* * *

 **Floor 2: Urbus** , Leather Inn, Kirito & Asuna's Room

"Neat, isn't it?"

After a quick trip to the Blacksmith's before heading back to their room, Kirito's _Anneal Blade +7_ now had an attack of 75 and Asuna's _Wind Fleuret +4_ now had an attack of 65. They were getting stronger and stronger each day, though they wouldn't be solo'ing bosses too soon. They did have a couple moments where they were scared for each other earlier that day, seeing each other's HP drop into the high yellow at least once, though only momentarily.

"Yeah, it's awesome, much better than that crappy _Starting Rapier_ , and it's good for four more enhancements too. What about your sword though, Kirito, won't it only be good for one more enhancement?"

"I'll have to swap it out once we get to the 3rd Floor, but it will do for now. I know a good quest up there that will get me a sword with a base attack of 60, with a limit of eight enhancements as well. I need to stop focusing on attack, though, some focus on speed and durability would serve me well."

"Oh…okay. Anyway, wanna eat, Kirito?"

"Damn right I do!", he said, grinning at Asuna. She couldn't help but smile back as well.

* * *

 _An hour later, in their respective beds_

…

"Hey, Kirito? Are you still awake?"

"Yeah, I am. What's up?"

"I was just thinking…we haven't had any real close calls yet, but over a hundred floors…we're bound to have some, aren't we? I don't know if I'm reliable enough to know what to do if your health went into the red…"

"…"

Kirito pondered what Asuna had said in his mind. Truth be told, there definitely would be a lot of near-death situations on the road ahead. He had heard rumours that every 25 floors an ultra-strong boss would appear, and just a simple mistake could mean the en-

"No, don't say that Asuna."

"?" She made a questioning noise with her throat.

"It'll be okay. We'll get out of this together, right?"

 _Together_. That word made her freeze. She wasn't a solo player…she couldn't go it alone, she would just have to cope with the near-misses and make sure she didn't collapse under the pressure.

"Okay, Kirito. I trust you."

"Good night, Asuna."

"Good night, Kirito."


	3. Chapter 3: Asterius the Taurus King

**A/N: Make sure to follow the story if you want to receive updates about future chapters, a favorite or review is nice as well :)**

 **I'm putting out chapters quite fast at the moment mainly because I'm an extremely fast typer and writer, and also because I'm on holiday. When I'm not on holiday and it settles down I'll probably update less often, but at least once or twice a week (I hope).**

 **For the first ten floors we'll probably go floor by floor, but after that I'll probably skip a floor or two here and there. Floor 25, 50, 75 and 100 will be the most important by far. The battle between Kirito and Heathcliff on Floor 75 will not take place in this AU but I am unsure whether or not to wait until Floor 95 to reveal Heathcliff as Kayaba like in canon: we'll wait and see.**

* * *

 _One week since the last chapter_

 **Floor 2:** **Urbus,** Leather Inn, Kirito & Asuna's room

A message box popped up in front of Kirito. "Huh, what's this?"

Asuna looked up from what she was currently cooking. She now had her cooking stat at 32 and she was damn good at what she did, but if something important was happening... "What's up, Kirito?"

"I just got a message from one of the 'clearers'. They've found the boss room for the 2nd floor!"

"Really?! Are they having a meeting about it?"

"Yeah, they are...but there's a kicker...they want us to lead it.", Kirito slowly said, looking down at the floor.

"Are they crazy? We haven't even scouted the boss or got anywhere close to the top floor of the 2nd Floor Labyrinth, how would we know what we're doing?"

"I don't know, we'll have to meet up with some of the scouts to find out what they know."

"You mean you're actually taking them up on this!?", Asuna near-shouted at Kirito.

"Yes." He quickly responded, looking Asuna in the eye, which made her pale a little. "We don't have a choice. After Diavel died...and we had to take the lead in the last boss battle, they're going to be looking to us for help."

Before Asuna could reply, he quickly said, "I don't think that will last though."

Asuna blinked. "Wait...why is that?"

Matter-of-factly, Kirito replied "Because we're beaters, Asuna. They don't think that we're like them, and there's no turning back from that. But we did what we had to."

Deep down, Asuna knew he was right, though she did question why he said we for just a moment, before dismissing that thought. _No. We're the same now, we're both alike, and we're going to stay that way._

"You know, Kirito, we should probably not mention our levels to them."

He was taken aback by this. "Why?" A quick glance at his HUD showed that he was Level 18 and Asuna was Level 16. "I suppose we are a high level...but you don't think anyone else is higher?"

"I don't know. But it's best to play it safe, for now anyways."

"Okay. So, are we going to that meeting?"

"I suppose we have to."

* * *

 **Floor 2: Marome** , Plaza

Kirito and Asuna had decided to take the meeting to the second floor's lesser-known settlement, Marome, in order to have a quiet place for a meeting. They didn't expect so many attendees, though.

"Kirito," Asuna whispered, "How many are here?"

"I don't know, let me check," he whispered back, using his fingers to open a map of the area. "It looks like...just shy of a hundred players."

"Do you think they're all up for the task of being a 'clearer'?"

"Truth be told, I don't Asuna. Judging by their equipment, some of them can't be more than Level 10. Diavel was Level 10 himself when he died, and this boss has to be tougher."

The mentioning of Diavel's death sent a shiver down Asuna's spine. "Make sure you don't end up like him, Kirito. Please."

"Remember the promise you made? If your health hits the red, teleport away." Before Asuna could respond, he cleared his throat, addressing the crowd in front of him.

"Hello everyone. I was asked by the group of clearers who found this floor's boss room to hold this meeting today to form a strategy for the boss rai-"

A voice rung out from the crowd. "HEY! AREN'T YOU THAT FILTHY BEATER WHO KILLED DIAVEL!", shouted a voice. Others murmured in agreement. Kirito knew that while he wouldn't be able to hold off the taunts forever, for now, he would need to be harsh to get this boss raid done.

But before he could come back with a retort, Asuna stepped forward and spoke for him.

"Listen here, idiot," she said, drawing a couple gasps from people who saw her at the previous fight, "Diavel was a beta tester as well. Kirito tried to help him, but the boss had changed since the beta. Unless you want to actually see the day where this game is cleared, I suggest you shut up so we can actually discuss this boss raid."

People in the crowd whispered to each other. _"She hasn't left that beater?" "What is she thinking?" "Is she stupid?"_

Kirito flashed a small smile at Asuna, earning the same in response, and continued. "Thank you, Asuna. As I was saying, we will be forming a strategy for the boss raid..."

* * *

"So, one last time. The boss is called Asterius the Taurus King, and has two supporting sub-bosses, Baran the General Taurus and Nato the Colonel Taurus. The boss itself has four HP bars, while the sub-bosses each have three. Asterius has a high amount of armor and so piercing weapons with a _Stab_ style, like rapiers, will be the most effective, while the sub-bosses do not and so weapons with a _Slash_ style will be better."

"When Asterius leans back and sucks in air, he is preparing a lightning attack. It has almost infinite range in the room and travels instantly, so you need to get out of the way quickly, as it has a high chance of paralysing you and will do a lot of damage. We will not have many antidote crystals so early on in the game, so we can't afford to be wasting them." "That said, if someone is paralysed, and there are antidote crystals available, use them as soon as possible. Saving a crystal is not worth us losing a clearer."

A sole voice piped up in the crowd. "Maybe it is.", said the voice.

Kirito and Asuna shared a look of shock before he called out. "Who are you? Why would we need a crystal over someone's life!?"

"My name is Rechi," said the figure, who stepped forward out of the crowd. An air of mystery surrounded this player, who was donned in a purple cloak. "and I'm the highest level here out of all of you, I'm willing to bet."

"Oh yeah? What's your level then?"

"I'm Level 19."

Kirito and Asuna both made a shocked noise in their throats at the same time. "...?!" _We knew this might happen but...how!? Why someone like this?_

"Some of these people here are not worth saving. Look at them. You can see from their gear that they are worthless. You two, on the other hand, clearly have experience. Your gear is good for the floor we are at, and your levels probably match it. We must focus on the stronges-"

"No-" Kirito interrupted - "we aren't. Every life is important. These people show willingness. We need to train them, because sooner or later, people will die. It's a sad fact, and if any of you can't cope with that-" he gestured at the crowd - "you need to leave. We need everyone we can get, but if you can't accept the importance of the lives of others to us clearing the game, you won't help."

No one moved. While some agreed with Rechi, no one was brave enough to speak up.

"To finish our recap," Kirito continued, despite the interruption, "let's go over the sub-bosses once more. Baran has a special skill called _Numbing Detonation_ , which releases golden sparks in a range of around fifteen meters around him. If you get caught in it once, you will be stunned for three seconds, but for no longer. However, do not get caught in it twice, or the effect will be upgraded to paralysis."

"If you haven't figured out already, these guys are focused on paralysing their enemies. It will by far be the most dangerous element of this battle, but to compensate, I believe they will not do quite as much damage as the first floor boss. But do not take comfort in this - if you're paralysed, all they need to do is keep their sword in you while you're down and you will quickly die."

"Nato has a similar skill, called _Numbing Impact_. He will raise his hammer in the air, and it will glow with golden sparks - if you see this, get away immediately. You will take high amounts of damage if you are close to the impact. As well as this, golden tendrils will extend from where the hammer hits the ground. If you are hit by one of these, the effect is the same as being caught in _Numbing Detonation_ , so again, do not get caught twice. Jumping in the air will buy you valuable time."

"Note that when the boss and its sub-bosses reach their last bar of health, they will become enraged and start using abilities more frequently. For this reason we should focus on one at a time while a few 'clearers' parry the other's attacks, as having multiple enraged at once could spell the end."

"As well as this, make sure you have a healing crystal and a teleport crystal on your belt. I want to see no-one without one. You are now dismissed, please meet here tomorrow at 9:30am."

The crowd dispersed, and Asuna looked at Kirito with a heavy look in her eyes.

"Kirito, this is just insane...it's only the second floor, and we're fighting three at once with so many special abilities?"

"I know, Asuna. Luckily I don't know of any other floors with these 'sub-bosses' in the boss room, so I think we'll be alright. Let's go home."

 _Home_. Asuna liked the sound of that, even though the room wasn't her true home. None of SAO was. But for now, she would accept it as _Home_.

"Okay, Kirito."

* * *

 **Floor 2: Labyrinth** , Outside the Boss Room

Kirito and Asuna stood in front of the Boss Room's doors, facing the rest of their group. They had 98 'clearers' in total, and wanted to leave with the same amount.

"Okay, everyone, are we ready?", Kirito shouted, to a response of 'Yeah!'s from the Clearing group. Kirito quickly used his hand to check that his Teleport, Healing and Antidote crystals were on his belt, and then looked at Asuna's to see the same.

Turning around to put a hand on the Boss Room door and prepare to open it, he looked over at Asuna.

"Asuna. Remember the promise."

"...fine. But if something happens to you..." _How would I deal with the guilt?_

"Nothing will."

"It better not, else I'll kill you myself!"

 _Hm, that'd be counterproductive,_ he mused in his head. Looking forward, he opened the door, and -

* * *

To be honest, the battle wasn't going well at all. Baran was half way through his last bar of HP, but they weren't prepared enough for his erratic display of abilities, and only Kirito had an antidote crystal left, which quickly exploded into shards as he was forced to use it when a lower levelled player was caught in one of Baran's _Numbing Detonation_ attacks. He saw Rechi shoot him a filthy look as he did that, but he wasn't going to let that phase him.

"Asuna, we haven't been stunned yet, so we need to take the offensive!", he shouted at her.

"Okay!", came the response, and they charged at Baran. They would have to quickly dispatch Baran before the monster could paralyse anyone else, or they'd be in serious trouble.

A flurry of sword skills later, and Baran fell, with Asuna receiving the _Last Attacking Bonus_. She was forced to quickly dismiss the window, however, as she immediately had to dodge an attack from Nato.

"Alright, everyone!", she shouted, "charge for Nato!"

And, bolstered by the death of one of the floor's sub-bosses, they did.

* * *

Nato was now dead, but around thirty of the 'clearers' laid paralysed on the ground. It had taken another thirty to drag them away and defend them, and so only thirty-eight remained to fight the actual boss.

And yet, as Asterius' second HP bar emptied completely, things would get worse still. His skin started to burn through like coal, and Kirito's eyes widened -

"It's going into beserk mode early! This wasn't in the intel! He's changed, get back!"

As everyone fell back, only one still stood in front of Asterius.

"Rechi!? What the hell are you doing?!", shouted Kirito, but he received no response, only a small smirk from Rechi, as Asterius leant back, ready to fire lightning at Rechi...

 _Only a beta tester could be that cocky, Rechi...you were one as well, weren't you?_

Kirito's thoughts were interrupted by a scream from Rechi, and Kirito saw Rechi paralysed on the ground, powerless. _Wh...what? What the?_

Rechi rasped, "No...he didn't use his lightning beam...he used _Numbing Detonation_ instead!"

Asuna stared in shock. "Wh...what? The boss is bluffing us out?"

But before she could continue, Asterius brought down his hammer on Rechi, and the air was filled with a scream from Kirito, activating a sword skill and chasing for the hammer. Asuna immediately ran after him. "Kirito!"

Kirito, however, was not fast enough, and the hammer struck Rechi directly in the stomach.

* * *

Kirito stood and stared as Rechi's HP went straight from the low green to zero. _No way...did the paralysis buff the damage?_

Rechi, meanwhile, was as if he had been punched in the stomach. Full of anger, he screamed at Kirito. "You stupid dumbass! Why did you save those little bastards over someone strong like me!

Kirito couldn't respond. He simply watched aimlessly as Rechi exploded into a million polygons.

* * *

In their anger, the thirty-seven remaining 'clearers' able to fight charged Asterius, and quickly realised their mistake. Polygons filled the air as five more succumbed to his hammer, and Kirito had seen enough. "Take this, you bastard!" he screamed, hitting Asterius in the back with a _Horizontal Arc._ "Kirito, no! Not on your own!", screamed Asuna.

Kirito's Sword Skill was quickly met with a fist to the stomach, sending his health plummeting into the mid yellows. He felt for a heal crystal, but realised he had used his earlier in the battle already. _All I have left is this Teleport Crystal_ _..._

His thoughts were interrupted by the hammer swinging to strike him. It seemed like everything happened in an instant.

Asuna saw the hammer and knew what would happen if it hit him. _There's no way he'd be able to survive that...I have to help him!_

She charged for Kirito, activating the best Sword Skill she had, and went straight for the Hammer - which promptly had its path re-adjusted once Asterius saw her coming in his direction. It struck her in her abdomen and sent her flying into a wall on the opposite side of the room.

Kirito stared in shock as Asuna's health settled in the medium red. _One more hit and she'll die..._

"Asuna, remember our promise! Teleport away!"

"Kirito, no! I'm not leaving you here to die!"

Kirito knew there would be no point arguing, so he drew out his own teleport crystal and muttered, "Fine."

Asuna's eyes widened with shock. _No...you're not going to leave me here to die...are you? You wouldn't do that, would you...Kirito?_

She barely had time to respond when Kirito dashed across the room and thrusted his own teleport crystal into her empty hand, simply saying, "Teleport, Urbus," before pushing Asuna away and leaving her with the crystal alone.

Asuna stretched out her hand and screamed "KIRITO, NO!", but it was too late as she was teleported away in a rush of polygons.

* * *

 **Floor 2: Urbus** , Teleport Gate

"NO, YOU BASTARD!" Asuna screamed into the empty air, collapsing on her knees at the Teleport gate. She knew she wouldn't be quick enough to get back to the boss room before the battle was over...

All she could do now was stare at the HP bar in the top left of her screen under her own, and hope it didn't hit zero.

"Kirito...why..."

 _Now you don't even have a teleport crystal yourself..._

* * *

 **Floor 2: Labyrinth,** Boss Room

While Kirito let out a small smile at the knowledge that his party member was now safe, he knew he had no time to rest. Asterius was now on its last HP bar, and without his _Battle Healing_ skill there was no point waiting to attack. He sipped a health potion that would quickly take effect, bringing him to the low green in terms of HP. _That's not a huge improvement, but it will have to do for now. But if I take more than one hit directly..._

He didn't want to think about what would happen then.

* * *

Three more 'clearers' had died to that damn hammer, but the end was in sight. _One more hit...just one more hit...please, no more deaths!_

Kirito ran for the boss, and met him with the same _Vertical Arc_ he used to kill the last boss. _Just let me finish this skill...it'll be enough!_

And as the bosses HP hit zero, he let a small smile come onto his face.

One that didn't last long, as before the boss disappeared, he rewarded Kirito with a direct introduction to the business end of his hammer.

* * *

 **Floor 2: Urbus** , Teleport Gate

The blood drained from Asuna's face as she watched Kirito's health drain further and further. Past the green...past the yellow...into the red.

"No, NO!"

Yet, almost as if it was just a taunt, it stopped draining a few percentage points away from zero, as the _Unconscious_ debuff appeared next to Kirito's name. At the same time, she saw a dialogue box appear in front of her, making her eyes widen.

 _The 2nd Floor has now been cleared._

 _Last attacker: Kirito_

Almost as if on cue, a frenzy of blue polygons and light appeared behind her, and a 'clearer' with a dark look on their face dropped Kirito onto the ground in front of her. Before Asuna could even ask what happened, the figure turned and teleported away.

 _What...what happened, Kirito?_

Her thoughts were met with silence from the unconscious body. _But, at least you're safe..._


	4. Chapter 4: Storm Bringer

**A/N: Be sure to leave a review to help me improve! Thanks for all the positive feedback so far :)**

* * *

 _"In case anyone you know ever gets this debuff, Asuna," Kirito explained, "if a player receives a critical hit and is reduced to less than 5% of their HP, there's a 50% chance they will receive the Unconscious debuff. There isn't any manual cure, unfortunately, but it goes away naturally after 24 hours. Just look after them until it's gone."_

* * *

 **Floor 2: Urbus** , Leather Inn, Kirito & Asuna's Room

 _2:35pm, the next day_

Kirito woke with a shout. The imagery of scattered polygons from the past battle had haunted his nightmares -

"Kirito? Kirito! Are you okay?" Asuna begged, nearly sprinting to him when she heard his shout from across the room.

"Yeah...I think I'm okay. What h-" Kirito started, but was interrupted by a slap from a tearful Asuna.

"Don't you dare do that again, you stupid idiot! I saw your HP bar! You were at 130 HP out of 4000 after that attack...you were so close to dying, I was so worried!" she cried, tears starting to roll down her cheeks. _Why do I care...? Shouldn't I only care about my own survival?_

"I thought you would die if you stayed any longer."

"No, I wouldn't have. I'd have protected you, and you'd have protected me, right?"

Kirito drew in his breath. _Would we have protected each other?_

"Yeah...I suppose so."

"That's not good enough, Kirito."

"Okay...I'm sorry, Asuna. I won't do it again." Kirito promised, and Asuna seemed to be accepting of this. She wiped her tears away on her wrist, and Kirito let her finish doing that before he dared continue talking.

"Anyway, what happened?" he questioned, sitting up in his bed. He noted that his health had been restored to its maximum, probably through potions while he was asleep. He was Level 19 now, as well -

 _Level 19...wait, Rechi..._

Asuna quickly explained all she knew, but understandably, it wasn't a lot.

"So all you know is that I was dropped off by a clearer, who quickly teleported away?"

"Yeah, that's all."

 _Damn...maybe I should check my messages._ Quickly opening his player menu, he noticed he had an unread message. _It's from the clearing group..._

"No...that can't be right..."

"Huh, Kirito, what's up?"

"We lost...we lost nine people?" Kirito gasped. His face visibly darkened as he realized the extent of the losses of the clearing force. "We entered with ninety-eight, and we left with eighty-nine...those losses are way too severe...how will we ever complete this game?" Kirito lamented. _Should I have been the leader? Their blood is on my hands, they put their trust in me...is that why the clearer teleported so quickly away?_

"Kirito." Asuna stated, making him sharply look up at her. "It wasn't your fault. You used the intel you had, and without you, who knows how many more we would have lost. But please, don't do that again...I couldn't bear to see you die trying to save me." "We'll adapt. Next time there won't be any losses at all, I'm sure of it."

He wasn't sure of her sincerity with that last statement, but he knew everything else was sincere. "Thank you, Asuna. Let's not try to lead a boss raid again, though, at least not for a while. It seems the clearers aren't going to be very forgiving of what I did."

"You're probably right." As if on cue, Kirito received another message. A quick skim of it told him that they had decided on another leader for future boss raids, but he was still welcome to attend them to help out.

"Let's not think about it."

...

"Anyway, how is your hunger stat doing, Kirito?"

"Good thing you asked, I'm damn starving..."

"Well, take a look at what I was just preparing," she cheekily beckoned, "I think you might like it!"

Entering the kitchen, Kirito found laid before him an assortment of dishes, each one a basic dish from real life. Despite its simple appearance, she had spent hours before working on this meal. Every ingredient had been hand-picked from her limited knowledge of cooking in SAO to try to make something high-class, and she hoped it would work. _Am I trying to impress him? No, of course not. It's just a nice meal, that's all..._

"Oh my God, this looks amazing!", he grinned.

* * *

 **Floor 3: Rekan** , Plaza

 _The next day_

Kirito and Asuna glanced around the main settlement of the third floor, and what stretched beyond. The plains and savannas of the previous two floors had been swapped for an autumnal look on the third floor, but the overall layout was still quite similar.

"Anyway, before we can get back to grinding out some monsters, remember what I said about a certain quest on this floor that would get me a sweet new sword? It's time to do that," Kirito explained, "and I could use your help, if you're up to it!"

"Sure!", Asuna said through a smiling face.

"The quest we need to find is called _Thunderstorms in the Midst_. It rewards a one-handed sword called _Storm Bringer_ , with a base attack of 60 and up to eight enhancements possible. Boosting it up fully would be a nice improvement on my _Anneal Blade +7_." "The quest should be given by...ah, there he is!" Kirito exclaimed, pointing to an NPC monk roaming the Plaza...

* * *

 **Floor 3: Rekan** , Electric Cave

Kirito and Asuna had been walking in the _Electric Cave_ that the monk had asked them to venture into for a solid ten minutes now, and so far, absolutely nothing had happened. Asuna was starting to get a bit jumpy, but still cocky at the same time. Every shadow in the cave had to be considered as a trap, every weird looking rock, and even every gust of air that passed by her. But despite all her thoughts...still, nothing had happened.

"You know, Kirito, for all your talk about this sword, the quest is a bit easy, isn't it? Just fetch a special stone from a cave?"

Kirito couldn't deny that Asuna was correct. The cave wasn't even dark - it lived up to its name quite well. Yellow electricity darted through the walls of the cave, lighting up the passage beyond, and Kirito chuckled lightly. "Nah, the quest is easy. The only bit you have to watch out for is - right here." He paused abruptly and stood still, pointing to a symbol in front of him.

"What's that?" Asuna questioned curiously, looking at where Kirito was pointing.

"That's a secret pressure plate. Stepping on it will summon a bunch of monsters which have a good chance of paralysing you with each attack. However," he calmly said, stepping over it, "if you don't step on it, you don't need to fight anything in this entire quest. Which is good, as at this level, a fight like that would probably kill both of us."

Asuna, hearing that, not-so-calmly stepped over the pressure plate, hoping that she didn't trip while trying to do so. "Well, it sure does make me feel better knowing certain death is just a step away."

"No worries, the quest is almost over now. I can see the stone on the altar in front of us."

Asuna was almost certain it would be a trap, and as Kirito picked the stone up -

"Wait, Kirito, NO!"

...

...

...and nothing happened.

Kirito practically bowled over laughing. "What, did you think there would be some kind of hidden trap at the altar?" he said through tears, laughing at how exasperated Asuna looked. "I must have done this quest a million times showing other people it in the beta. Don't worry about it!"

Asuna wasn't too happy. "Hey, things have changed since the beta! If something happened to you there..." Kirito's demeanor instantly changed.

"Hey, Asuna. Nothing will happen to me, don't worry about it." He smiled.

Asuna sighed. "Let's just get out of this cave, idiot."

"Fine by me." Kirito smirked.

* * *

 **Floor 3: Rekan** , Plaza

Handing the stone over to the NPC, the monk expressed his appreciation before a window popped up in front of Kirito:

 _Congratulations!_

 _You completed Thunderstorms in the Midst!  
_

 _You received: Storm Bringer_

"Well, that was disgustingly easy." Asuna remarked.

"You'd think so, wouldn't you Asuna? But that pressure plate catches so many people out. Most who step on it don't survive, and in addition, this is the first quest in a chain of quests. Many people who survive this one think the others will be just as easy, and then get caught out when they're actually some of the toughest in SAO."

"Sounds great. We won't be doing those then, will we?"

"Well, Asuna, no...but the next quest in this chain unlocks on Floor 5, and it does reward quite a nice Rapier...80 base attack, I've heard."

Asuna smirked. "I guess we will be doing those, then."

"Of course. How is that _Wind Fleuret_ of yours holding up now, anyway?"

"I boosted it up to +6 after the boss battle, so it should be good for a while longer. Are you going to go reinforce that _Storm Bringer_?"

"Of course, just let me take a look at it first." Kirito drew up his menu effortlessly using two fingers, clearly showing his experience as a beta tester. Equipping the sword, he held it in his right hand and analysed it. "A blue hilt...rising up to a black blade with tendrons of yellow running through it. I like it."

Asuna whistled at the sight, but Kirito jumped up and stared at her with a blush forming on his cheeks -

"NO, NOT LIKE THAT, IDIOT!" she shouted, charging up a sword skill at him -

Which he simply side-stepped, making her fall on her face. Kirito couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. "Hey, Asuna, are you alright?"

"Hmph. Let's go kill some monsters."

"Sure!"

* * *

 **Floor 3: Rekan** , Stormy Inn, Kirito & Asuna's Room

"Whoa, this is so much nicer!" Asuna exclaimed, looking at their new room on the third floor.

"Yeah, for only 100 Cor a week you can't get much better," Kirito boasted, and she knew he was right. The dreary, slightly dampened wood of the last room had been swapped for polished teak, almost looking like it had just been built. "Don't I just know all the best places?"

Asuna smirked at him. "Yeah, well we get to the 10th Floor and we buy our own house, I'll be..." She paused at the thought. _Our house?_

Asuna's cheeks visibly turned pink and Kirito couldn't help but laugh-

"SHUT UP, IDIOT! You k-know what I mean...anyway, I'll be decorating it, so it'll be way better than this!"

"Of course, Asuna. I'm sure it will."

She took comfort in his smile, knowing that he was being honest.

"What's for dinner today, anyway Asuna?"

"Well, after today, probably hunger for you..."

...

"WAIT, NO, THAT'S NOT FAIR ASUNAAAAA!"

* * *

 _After eating_

"You know, Kirito, that scared the hell out of me...what you did two days ago..."

A muffled acknowledgement came from Kirito's throat, and Asuna could hear the traces of sorrow in it.

"You promised you wouldn't do that again, right?"

"Yeah, I promised."

"Do you break promises?"

"...no, I don't. I promised I wouldn't do that, and I promised I'd protect you." Asuna's breath hitched at the thought.

"And you'll protect me as well, right?"

"I will."


	5. Chapter 5: Orange Ambush

**A/N: If you hadn't noticed, the last two chapters referenced the Progressive novels a lot, but it will start to depart from now on. Thanks for all the positive feedback, every review, follow and favorite pushes me to write more :)**

* * *

 **Floor 3:** **Labyrinth**

 _The next day_

Kirito ducked a blow from a _Lightning Spider_ , hitting it with a _Horizontal Arc_ in retaliation. "Asuna, switch!"

Perfectly on cue, Asuna charged in, deflecting the blow Kirito was about to receive from one of the spider's legs with a simple _Linear_ attack. While these spiders didn't do much damage, if they thought the previous floor's obsession with paralysis effects was enough already, this floor was ten times worse. Each successful strike from a lightning-based enemy had a small chance of paralysing the person it hit, and so playing solo was made all the more difficult. It practically made Kirito and Asuna inseparable.

 _"We're inseparable, huh?"_ Kirito thought, and then promptly realized his mistake. He wasn't thinking in his head, he was thinking out loud!

But to his surprise, the slap to the face he thought inevitable didn't come. Asuna simply murmured something he couldn't quite hear...was it agreement? Did she just call him a dummy? He had no way of making it out, but he would let the thoughts leave his mind, just as the life from the _Lightning Spider_ disappeared in front of him.

"Hey Asuna, we must have been grinding these damn things out for at least three hours now. Think you've made any good progress?"

Almost as if on cue, the _Level Up!_ box appeared in front of her, signalling that she had reached Level 19.

She smirked at him. "I think so, Kirito...I'm only one level behind you now, see?"

While he tried to hide his pride in her behind a facade of arrogance to tease her, his expression quickly broke when he saw Asuna's reaction to how he looked. _She looks really sad that I don't seem proud of her...wow, I actually feel kind of bad now._

Flashing her a smile that she knew was genuine, he spoke simply. "I'm proud of you, Asuna. Let's get strong together!"

Her mood was instantly lifted. "Okay, Kirito-kun!"

Kirito froze. _-kun? Yeah, I suppose I like that. We've only been partied together for a couple weeks or so, but it seems like we're really good friends already..._

Soon, those weeks would turn into years, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

 **Floor 3: Path to Rekan**

The trip back from the Labyrinth to their home back in Rekan was oddly silent, for a while anyway. Kirito had decided that enough was enough - they were good friends - why not try to learn a bit more about Asuna herself?

He quickly regretted that, though, when he realized what a crappy question he had let out of his mouth.

"..." _Step. Step. Step._

"..." _Step. Step. Step._

"So, Asuna, what's your favorite color?"

Asuna froze mid-step and took a moment to take into consideration what Kirito had just asked. There was no way he was letting him off with this one.

"Wow, Kirito, what a deep and meaningful question," she teased, with a smirk on her face, "I never knew you were one for such intellectual topics. I don't know, what is my favorite color? Could it be the one that all my clothes are themed around, and that I wear as much of as possible?"

Kirito turned red as he realized the stupidity of his question. It was pretty obvious what her favorite was...

"So, that'd be white, I suppose?"

"How did you figure it out!? I had no clue it was so obvious...", slyly gesturing to the white leather coat she wore around herself. "And wait...let me guess...is your favorite color black?!"

"Yep, you guessed it," he grinned, poking his tongue out at her, earning the same in response.

With nothing more to say, a smiling Kirito returned his attention to the ground in front of him, and -

"ASUNA, WAIT!"

But he was too late.

* * *

Asuna had stepped directly into the path of a tripwire, laid deviously across the path back to Rekan. _No...it can't be...this was set specifically to catch people coming back from the Labyrinth..._

Kirito's next realization troubled him much more, however. _In the beta, the only way to unlock the Trap-setting skill was to be an orange player...!_

Almost as if on cue, a party of players stepped out from their cover in the array of bushes by the pathway. A quick glance by Kirito at Asuna's HP bar confirmed she had been afflicted with the _Trapped_ debuff, but had taken no damage. _That's the same as being paralysed, though, so this fight is a one against...six!? They have a full party?_

As Kirito analysed the players that had just stepped in front of him, their orange cursors sprang to life above their head, confirming his suspicions, along with their full HP bars beside them.

"Well," said the apparent leader of their party, "look who we have here? It's that filthy beater we've heard so much about..."

"Kirito-kun!", Asuna cried out, interrupting his little 'speech'. "There's no way you can fight them all! I'll be okay, just go!"

The 'leader' of the party didn't take so kindly to her interruption. "Shut up, you stupid bitch!" he shouted, rewarding her with a kick to the face. Kirito could see her HP bar drop by a few percent, but that was all. "ASUNA!", he cried out in response.

These orange players had only been around for a minute, and they were already making him see red. He quickly looked a little more closely at them. Unbeknownst to Asuna, on the first floor he had taken on a quest known by no more than ten beta testers. While this quest didn't help with combat or money, it did reward him with the _Extra Skill, Player Identification_. It was effectively a version of the _Identification_ skill which everyone starts with, except that it was effective on actual players rather than just monsters.

He hadn't put any points into it or trained it, as he saw no reason to, because the lowest level provided all he needed: just their levels.

A quick focusing of the eyes revealed the strength of the party in front of him. He was Level 20, while their leader was Level 16. Three of the party stood behind at Level 14, while the other two lagged behind, barely sitting at Level 11.

He didn't need any _Extra Skills_ to see that their gear was sub-par, too. Their armor was no match for his _Storm Bringer +4_ , and their swords would lose a lot of durability blocking his attacks, although he was nowhere near strong enough to break them outright.

Kirito was snapped out of his analysis by the voice of their 'leader' once more. "I expected some juicy loot from this fight, but to see you here...you've taken both of the _Last Attacking Bonuses_ , haven't you? Killing you will make us rich, I'll bet..."

The 'leader' sneered at Kirito with a disgusting look in his eyes, and Asuna clearly had seen enough.

"Kirito-kuuuun ~", she whistled, with a sweet look on her face...

...which quickly changed to one of the darkest he had seen in a while...

"...end this, won't you?"

The prize for daring to say such a thing was another kick from their leader and a face full of spit, and Kirito's vision went red.

* * *

The other five members of the party were no longer a threat to him. Three had been paralysed by their own trap, affected by the _Trapped_ debuff, where they had stepped into it when forced to retreat from Kirito's hurricane of attacks. Their health was actually relatively high. Truth be told, Kirito was nowhere near a God at fighting, but he had a lot of tricks up his sleeve from the beta - and he knew that if he could take a few down that way, _then_ he could massacre the others.

The remaining two of the five insignificant players simply surrendered after Kirito had lowered their HP deep into the red. While they would not hesitate to kill someone for profit, they did not want to die themselves. _You damned cowards..._

Two _Horizontals_ and a _Vertical_ later, and their leader was in the yellow. Kirito flinched as the sword of the leader sliced his cheek, leaving a deep red gash, but he internally sighed in relief when he saw it had only deducted a few percent off of his HP. _This guy is a coward, a scaredy-cat...he's not even remembering to use his sword skills!_

A _Vertical Arc_ and a _Horizontal Arc_ later...

And their leader was in the red, but that wasn't what Kirito was looking at, because their leader now had his sword to Asuna's neck.

Their leader spoke in rasping breaths. "I...I know...you won't kill me, but _I'll kill her_ , and I won't hesitate like you...unless you drop that damn sword right now, and..."

His demands were cut short by Kirito moving at a speed he had never seen before, knocking him away from Asuna, with his _Storm Bringer_ digging into his neck.

Kirito did not need to speak. Every inch further he moved the sword, every second he held it there, and the deeper the red gash on their leader's neck got, the closer he knew the leader would get to realizing that Kirito was not bluffing.

He would kill him to protect his party members. _No, to protect Asuna..._

And just before the leader's HP bar hit zero, he dropped his weapons and surrendered, and Kirito pulled away.

A few seconds of silence sat before them, before Kirito spoke. "You talked about my _Last Attacking Bonuses_. Do you know what the second floor bonus was?"

The response was silent. He didn't expect anything more.

"It's called a Corridor Crystal. It will teleport as many people as I want it to." He flicked through his menu, and selected a location for the crystal. "It's set to go to the first floor's prison. You're going there, no ifs or buts about it."

He looked the leader dead in the eye, before he was tempted to try to call a non-existent bluff again. "And if you try not to go...I'll kill you myself, for what you did to Asuna."

No more convincing was required, as a minute later, they had all passed through the corridor opened by Kirito's crystal with little to no encouragement. Kirito stared into the distance for a few seconds...before quickly running to Asuna.

He held up her head with a hand behind it. _Wow, her hair is so soft...no, now isn't the time to be saying things like that!_

Meanwhile, Asuna didn't know what to think about. Would she think about the battle she had just seen, or... _wow, his hands are so soft...NO! IDIOT! NOW ISN'T THE TIME!_

Kirito quickly pulled out a _Rescue Potion_ which he held to the lips of Asuna. Her eyes met his, and he nodded, and taking this as consent, Asuna sipped on the potion. A few seconds later, and her _Trapped_ debuff had vanished, and she quickly embraced him with tears running down her face.

"Are...are you okay, Asuna?"

"Why, Kirito...why would people do that!? Why are people so evil!?"

"I...I...I don't know, Asuna. I'm sorry."

"No, don't apologize Kirito, you did save me..."

"..."

"...but you IDIOT! WHY WOULD YOU FIGHT SO MANY AT ONCE? THEY COULD'VE BEEN SO MUCH STRONGER -"

Asuna's shouting was cut off by a hug from Kirito, her face being buried into his shoulder. "Hm-hmph!"

"I was so scared something would go wrong, I was seeing red when that bastard kicked you..."

...

"I'll explain everything when we get home, okay?"

* * *

 **Floor 3: Rekan** , Stormy Inn, Kirito & Asuna's Room

"So that's how you knew what their abilities were like...", Asuna mused. Kirito had just explained to her how he had analysed their gear, as well as how his _Extra Skill, Player Identification_ , worked.

"Yeah. I knew I still couldn't take them alone, though. I might have been quite a few levels higher than most of them, but six on one...without the trapwire still being in effect, there's probably no way I could've won that fight."

"...Hmm." Asuna mused.

"Huh? What's up, Asuna?"

"Kirito-kun...if you didn't think you could've won that fight, would you have left me?"

"...!" Kirito shuddered at the thought. "No."

"...?"

"No, I wouldn't have, Asuna. Remember? I promised I'd protect you."

"...hmmmph. You dummy - huh, what's this?" A _Message Received_ box popped up on Asuna's screen.

"Yeah, I got one too. I think it was sent to both of us at once. Want to read what it says?"

"Sure, Kirito-kun, let's read it together." Opening the message, they both read through and -

"..."

"..."

"Are we going to go, Kirito-kun?"

"...yeah, we'll have to. When did they say? Tomorrow, 11am?"

"Yeah. We won't have any choice. But how did they find it so quickly?"

"I don't know. Sometimes it feels random, some floors are so much quicker to clear than others. Or maybe the clearers are improving. If only we could keep it up at this rate...one a week would be amazing."

"Yeah..." she sighed.

"...anyway, we'll have to go. We can't let them fight the third floor boss without us, right Kirito-kun?"

"Right."


	6. Chapter 6: Tonitrua

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews guys :) Make sure to leave one if you enjoyed this chapter!**

* * *

 **Floor 3: Labyrinth,** Outside the Boss Room

 _Two days later..._

Kirito and Asuna stared at the large, hulking door in front of them. It seemed to have been hastily painted with a blackened finish, but at the same time, gave off an aura of static discharge that made anyone standing near it distinctly uncomfortable.

It was also the door to the third floor's Boss Room, and so they'd need to put all of that aside very shortly.

Kirito glanced at Asuna's belt, and counted not one, nor two, but three antidote crystals, the same as he had. He recalled back to the meeting of the previous day...

* * *

 _Asuna had a distinctly uncomfortable look on her face, her throat making strained noises as the extent of the bosses paralysis abilities were laid bare. "This is insane, Kirito-kun...was this in the beta?"_

 _"No," came the simple reply, "it wasn't. The boss was completely different in the beta, called Nerius the Evil Treant."_

 _"I don't know how we're going to deal with this..."  
_

 _As the intel gathered by the clearing team's scouts had discovered, Tonitrua the Lightning Goddess was the name of third floor's boss, and if the paralysis effects of the last boss had scared the clearers, then this was ten times worse._

 _Tonitrua, on her own, was not a formidable enemy. She wielded only a weak halberd, and would need at least four or five direct hits to kill even a mediocre player. That, however, wasn't the problem. Like Illfang from the first floor, Tonitrua would be defended by a special type of mob, in this case Lightning Sentinels. She would start with five in the room, and five more would spawn every minute, constantly requiring attention of the clearers._

 _Her abilities were the problem with this setup. First, attacking Tonitrua to whittle down one of her four HP bars would immediately provoke her to unleash a devastating area-of-effect attack after 10 seconds, which would instantly paralyse any player within ten meters. The damage this would deal would be deadly within two meters, but quickly fell off to zero within five meters, and so to most players this wouldn't be a threat, especially with its thirty second cooldown._

 _However, every thirty seconds, Tonitrua would "highlight" a player in the boss room, and charge them with her halberd, charged with enough electrical energy to paralyse the player. A scout tried to block this and quickly learned why it was a bad idea, as they were not only still paralysed, but the contact had been detected by the boss as an "attack", provoking her area-of-effect attack. Having just blocked the boss, the scout was within two meters of its attacks range, and was instantly wiped out._

 _The only way to avoid her paralysis, was to dodge completely. And she was fast._

 _Not only did players need to dodge her area-of-effect attacks and targeting, while weaving in and out to do damage, but the real threat was from the Lightning Sentinels. In the first floor boss battle, the Ruin Kobold Sentinels were a mere inconvenience, requiring just a couple players to deal with._

 _In this boss battle, the story was much difference. Each Lightning Sentinel was effectively a mini-boss, and even with some of the most skilled clearers targeting the sentinels, they would struggle to kill them before more had spawned._

 _"I think we can do it." Kirito shakily stated. Truth be told, Asuna didn't think his voice had much conviction, but it definitely had more than the clearers leading this meeting. She knew that they were way out of their depth - they had no idea what they were facing._

 _"Kirito-kun?"_

 _"Hm?"_

 _"Maybe we should get some antidote crystals before the fight tomorrow..."_

 _"Yeah. I think three will do, plus a healing and a teleport."_

 _The mention of a teleport crystal scared Asuna._

 _"Don't you dare do what you did last time, dummy."_

 _"I won't, Asuna. Don't worry."_

* * *

A voice shakily called forward from the crowd of clearers waiting to enter. "A-are we ready?"

Kirito sighed. "Let's go, Asuna."

She gave him a questioning look. "Let's go where? Home? What are you talking about?"

But without speaking, he grabbed her hand and opened the boss room door, leading the way in, which gave the conviction to the other clearers to follow suit.

 _Tonitrua the Lightning Goddess_ was there, standing at the other end of the darkened room, surrounded by her five _Lightning Sentinels_. It looked almost ominous, like a cult ritual of sorts, but Kirito knew that this wasn't the time to dwell on silly features like the look of the room.

Wordlessly, the clearers charged forward, and the battle had begun. Kirito and Asuna were on the front team, and so their role would be to whittle Tonitrua's HP down as quickly as possible before the sentinel team were worn down.

"Quick, Asuna, a sword skill and then jump back!", Kirito shouted, before hitting Tonitrua with a _Horizontal Arc_ and using his agility-based skill, _Dash_ , to quickly get out of the range of Tonitrua's area-of-effect attack. Sure enough, Tonitrua started glowing yellow-orange and gathering energy around her. "You have ten seconds!"

"On it, Kirito-kun!", Asuna responded. She hit Tonitrua with her own attack and dashed back even faster than he did, and they looked behind them just in time to see a Lightning Sentinel thrust at them, piercing Kirito's shoulder with its sword.

"U-uggh!" Kirito gasped, watching around ten percent of his HP disappear. _What are the sentinel teams doing?_

"Kirito-kun! Are you okay?!"

Asuna dispatched the Lightning Sentinel with a seven-hit combo of rapier thrusts and flicks, angered by its sudden attack on Kirito. Kirito and Asuna both noted the crack of thunder as Tonitrua's area-of-effect ability activated, and a quick glance showed that, luckily, no one had been caught in it.

"Yeah, I'm fine...what the hell is going on with the sentinel teams, though?"

"I don't know, it doesn't seem like they're doing too badly...the sentinel must have been aggro'd by us attacking Tonitrua!"

"Damn, you're probably right..." Kirito murmured. Gesturing at a clearer, he shouted, "HEY! CAN YOU WATCH OUR BACKS WHILE WE ATTACK TONITRUA?"

The clearer simply glanced at him and looked away dispassionately. "Damn it...Asuna, it doesn't look like any of them will want to help a beater. Let's watch each other's backs, we'll have to make do for now."

"Mmph!", came the noise of agreement from her throat. No more words needed to be said.

* * *

Thirty-four minutes passed, and Tonitrua was down to her last bar of HP. There had been no casualties so far, and only a few clearers laid paralysed, most having an antidote crystal used on them immediately.

Kirito and Asuna, however, were out of antidote crystals, and they were getting tired. Kirito stared down the halberd that was coming right for him as Tonitrua targeted him, and - he glanced at Asuna - letting his concentration lapse at the entirely wrong moment. The halberd struck him and sent him flying in Asuna's direction, and while he was now in the low green for HP, he was paralysed with no crystals to help him.

Asuna was quick to respond. "Kirito-kun! Hey, you! Bring me an antidote crystal, please, I need it for Kirito-kun!", she beckoned, but each clearer who heard her cries simply looked on and ignored her. _Are you this apathetic? You would let Kirito and I die just because we're "beaters"?_

"I'm sorry, Kirito-kun, they're ignoring us..."

"I'll be okay, Asuna, I'll shout out if I need your help. Just focus on the boss!"

"Are you sure?"

"...I'm sure."

"But how will you defend yourself?"

"I won't, but these guys aren't strong enough to kill me in one hit, and if they attack me you'll come over and defend me, right?"

"Of course I will, idiot, you don't even need to ask that."

Without saying more, she stood up, looked at him once more, and then charged towards Tonitrua. _I'll finish this for you, Kirito-kun..._

* * *

As the last of Tonitrua's HP gauge disappeared to a thrust from a clearer, Kirito breathed a sigh of relief. That halberd meant that at least ten clearers laid paralysed on the floor, but they had learnt from the mistakes of the previous floor, and the influx of antidote crystals meant that they were able to free people of their status effects much sooner than before.

Asuna wordlessly walked over fell to the ground next to him, sitting down and panting from exhaustion. "No...there were no deaths, were there, K-Kirito-kun?"

"No, I don't think so Asuna...I'm glad, at least it shows we can actually beat a boss without losing anyone now. Maybe the future isn't too bleak after all."

Pulling out an Antidote Potion, she held it to Kirito's lips and he gently sipped on it, regaining his ability to move and sitting up next to her.

"Just like when those orange players ambushed us, huh Asuna?"

"No, you idiot, it's nothing like that...there's no threat anymore, we're safe, right?"

"Yeah, we - you - did it, Asuna. Well done, I'm proud of you."

Asuna's cheeks turned slightly pink. "T-thank you, Kirito-kun", she shyly replied. She didn't know why, but knowing that Kirito was proud of her made her happy. _Maybe it's the fact he's strong? Or...ugh, I don't know._

Standing up, Kirito looked around him, trying to catch the eyes of any of the clearers, and not a single one caught his gaze - except -

"Kirito!"

"Ah, Agil, it's you! How have you been?", Kirito happily said, grinning at the sight of the tall two-handed axe-wielder. "You're actually willing to speak to us, rather than ignore us like most others, I guess...?"

"Of course, man. I don't think it's fair what's going on...wait, you said _us_. Who else?"

"Ah, of course. Without further ado -", pointing to his partner who was just standing up - "I introduce you to, Asuna!", as if expecting confetti to pop out after her introduction. All he got, however, was a calm "Hello" from Asuna and a glance that made it clear he was going to be told off later for such a dumb introduction.

Agil simply chuckled, he had seen it all before. "Hey, Asuna. I saw you at the first boss battle, you seem to still be as good as you were then. Anyway, Kirito, I have to agree with you. It isn't fair what's going on with the whole 'beater' business, and I know you're just trying to take the heat off the beta testers. It won't last forever, though, I'm sure...we do need a strong leader, and I think you can provide that."

Kirito paled a little. "Really? Even with...even with what happened on the last floor?"

"Kirito, no leader could have prevented that, it was insane. Anyone else and we probably would've had even more casualties."

That helped a little bit, but Kirito still thought even one was too many. For now though, he'd accept it.

"Thanks, Agil. I guess you're right. Anyway, me and Asuna have to get going," checking the time on his menu and nodding, "so we'll see you around!"

Agil smiled as they turned and walked away. "Alright, Kirito, see you and your girlfriend later."

Both Kirito and Asuna made a choking noise and turned around in unison.

"WHAT?!"

* * *

 **Floor 3: Rekan** , Stormy Inn, Kirito & Asuna's Room

"You know, Asuna, I don't think I can be bothered to go get a new room on the fourth floor. This will be just fine for now, don't you think?"

"Yeah, it'll do. We need to save our Cor to get that house of ours on the tenth floor, anyway."

"Hey, I never agreed to that!"

"I wasn't asking for your agreement, was I, dummy?"

"Ugh...fine, yeah. Sure", he sarcastically replied, rolling his eyes. Secretly, Kirito liked the idea, and Asuna knew that as well, but it was funny to tease each other in this way.

"So, Kirito-kun, what are we going to do tomorrow?"

"Well, we'll have to check out the fourth floor to see any changes since the beta, but it was a pretty boring floor then as well...I guess we'll just have to grind mobs for a few days. In case you didn't realise yet, by the way, every ten levels the XP you need to level up goes up dramatically, so right around now we're really gonna have to put a shift in."

"Ah, okay. I guess I'll have to focus less on my Cooking stat for now..."

"W-wait, no! Don't do that!", Kirito stuttered, and Asuna smirked. She got the exact reaction she wanted.

"Huh? Why would I not do that, Kirito-kun," she innocently asked, with a smile on her face.

"W-well, it's just that, uh...well..."

"Hmm?" She was enjoying this.

"I, I really l-like your cooking I guess, and I don't want you to stop making it..."

"Aww, that's so sweet," she said, grinning like the Cheshire cat. Kirito knew he had been caught out by her devious tricks, but he didn't want to say something else and risk her actually stop cooking. "Well, just for that Kirito-kun, I'll make you something extra special tonight!"

Kirito lit up on the inside and grinned at Asuna. "I can't wait!"

 _Beating a boss and getting a special meal from Asuna, what a great day..._


End file.
